


Pulse

by pomegrenadier



Series: Structural Integrity [21]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Angst, Cross-faction relationship, F/F, Interspecies Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 16:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4269435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pomegrenadier/pseuds/pomegrenadier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Quesh, Cipher Nine needs a damn break.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pulse

Ardun Kothe is dead.

Tazra stays calm and collected and controlled throughout the hyperspace jump to Nar Shaddaa. Kaliyo’s taking everything with her usual blend of cynicism, schadenfreude, and contempt; Lokin seems to respect her desire to not talk about anything with anyone. Temple makes a few attempts to engage her—mostly about Intelligence matters, questions Tazra can field on autopilot. But Vector watches her, concern tightening the lines around his eyes, and she takes to avoiding that too-knowing, too-compassionate scrutiny.

Then they land and Tazra is out the airlock before the ramp finishes lowering. She activates her stealth field generator and disappears, slipping through the crowds and hopping between transport trams, comms deactivated, only flickering back to visibility when she’s nearly three klicks away from Mezenti Spaceport.

She finds an overpriced but clean hotel room overlooking the half-rebuilt Lucent Square. She checks in under an alias. She sends off a holomessage with the coordinates and room number. And then she waits.

Lirrick arrives less than an hour later with a brisk knock on the door. Tazra lets her in. They stare at each other for a frozen minute. And then Lirrick says, “Taz.”

She falls into Lirrick’s arms, buries her face in the smuggler’s shoulder, and cries. She sobs and shakes as if that will purge the poison from her. Lirrick holds her, pressing kisses to her temple, murmuring reassurances. Tazra sinks to her knees and Lirrick goes with her, solid, _real_ , the one fixed point in a world that has been unraveling for a long, long time. She’s missed this. So much. Missed Lirrick’s heartbeat in counterpoint to hers. One heart, strong enough to carry them both, while Tazra’s two falter and break.

“Talk to me, Taz,” Lirrick murmurs, fingers tangled in her hair.

She should refuse. She has to refuse. Conditioning, training, everything Intelligence made her demands that she refuse. But—no. Her voice. Her decision.

“Iconoclasm,” she breathes. A reminder. She opens her eyes. Exhales. Pulls away from Lirrick just far enough to meet her gaze and smile, though the expression feels twisted and ugly. “I’m going to order food. Then I’m going to commit treason.”

She tells Lirrick everything, over takeout and too much caf. Iconoclasm. The burning of the idols. The destruction of the old order. It’s over. It’s done. She’s free.

**o.O.o**

_fin_


End file.
